It's Advertising Week, But Don't Expect to See Mr. Peanut

By STUART ELLIOTT

Published: September 24, 2007

As the fourth convergence of Advertising Week begins in New York this week, what seems to be Topic A? The flight of ad dollars online? The effect of TiVo on television commercials? Try this: how prominent a role popular brand characters like Charlie the Tuna and the Geico cavemen should play in the annual event.

Since 2004, consumers have been asked each year to vote for their favorite characters to join a ''Walk of Fame'' on Madison Avenue. Among the nine icons elected so far: the Aflac duck, Mr. Peanut and Tony the Tiger. The first three years, organizers of Advertising Week also put on parades in Midtown that featured costumed versions of the nominated and winning characters.

Some industry executives said the characters were overshadowing the more substantive aspects of the week's events. That view was articulated most loudly by the trade publication Advertising Age, which missed few opportunities to mock their participation.

Jonah Bloom, the editor of Advertising Age, owned by Crain Communications, said: ''It's not that the icons aren't a fun part of the industry. But the industry is more sophisticated than that. An industry with smart tools to move the sales needle, that wants to attract smart people, was being represented by Mr. Clean and Mr. Peanut.''

This year, while the voting for favorite characters and slogans continues at advertisingweek.com, the parade has been canceled.

''Jonah didn't kill it,'' said Matt Scheckner, the executive director for Advertising Week 2007. Rather, ''the parade was a huge amount of work,'' he said, and ''at the end of the day the return on investment just wasn't there.''

Fear not, fans of characters. There will be a panel this afternoon on icons -- featuring Mr. Bloom as the moderator. It ''brings the whole thing full circle,'' Mr. Scheckner said.

PHOTO: Attendees of previous Advertising Weeks who are not invited this year. (PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HOGAN CHARLES/THE NEW YORK TIMES)